Panama City 7 Day Itinerary (No Traps)
Panama City 7 Day Itinerary (No Traps)
Seven days is enough to do this city properly and still get to both coasts, without wasting the final day trying to squeeze in San Blas as an afterthought. This is our 6 day itinerary plus one genuinely useful last day, not a rushed island trip bolted onto the end.
| Day | Focus | Distance from Casco Viejo |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panama Viejo ruins, Casco Viejo old town | 20-30 min / in town |
| 2 | Miraflores Locks, Amador Causeway and Biomuseo | 15-20 min |
| 3 | Ancon Hill, Mercado de Mariscos, Marbella/El Cangrejo | in town |
| 4 | Gamboa and Soberania National Park | 45-60 min |
| 5 | Isla Taboga | 30 min ferry |
| 6 | Portobelo and Agua Clara | 90-120 min |
| 7 | Last morning in Panama City, departure | in town |
Book these before you go
- Miraflores skip-the-line ticket : the walk-up queue builds fast after 10am.
- Gamboa rainforest and canal boat tour : Monkey Island boats run limited daily slots.
- Portobelo day tour : a private driver or organized tour beats independent transport for this pairing.
Day 1: Panama Viejo, then Casco Viejo
Tocumen International is 25-40 minutes from the city depending on traffic. Skip the arrivals-hall taxi desk quoting $30-40 flat; walk to the signposted rideshare zone instead, where Uber runs $15-25. Start at Panama Viejo, the actual ruins of the 1519 city burned by Henry Morgan’s raiders in 1671, entry around $15, then spend the rest of the day in Casco Viejo, fully walkable, eating at a fonda for $5-8 rather than a rooftop table on the plaza for triple that. El Chorrillo, the rough neighborhood next door, is an easy wrong turn after dark; take the short Uber. Our Panama City travel tips page has more on this.
Day 2: Miraflores Locks, then the Amador Causeway
Miraflores over Agua Clara for a city-based visit, unless you’re pairing Agua Clara with Portobelo later this week, which day 6 does. Non-resident entry to Miraflores runs roughly $17 (verify the current price at visitcanaldepanama.com), and ships transit in waves, generally morning northbound and afternoon southbound. Our Panama Canal deep dive and the official Miraflores Visitor Center site cover the schedule. Afternoon goes to Frank Gehry’s Biomuseo on the Causeway, roughly $18-20. Dinner in Marbella or El Cangrejo.
Day 3: Ancon Hill and the market that beats the restaurants
Climb Ancon Hill before the heat builds: free, thirty to forty-five minutes, and the best view in the city in one panorama. Our Panama City hiking areas guide has the trailhead. Lunch at Mercado de Mariscos, $3-8 for ceviche fresher than any sit-down restaurant three times the price. Our best places to eat in Panama City roundup covers dinner.
Day 4: Gamboa and Soberania National Park
Gamboa is 45-60 minutes out, and Soberania National Park is a legitimate full day: an aerial tram through the canopy, boat tours to Monkey Island where the wildlife isn’t staged, and canal views Miraflores doesn’t offer. Our Panama City nature spots and day trips guide have the logistics.
Day 5: Isla Taboga
A half-hour ferry from the Amador Causeway, running a limited daily schedule worth confirming the day before. The island has an actual beach, which the city itself lacks, plus a small colonial village worth an hour of wandering. Budget it as a full day; the schedule doesn’t reward squeezing in a second stop after.
Day 6: Portobelo and Agua Clara
Agua Clara on its own, ninety minutes to two hours away showing the newer expanded locks that opened in 2016, isn’t worth the round trip. Paired with Portobelo’s Caribbean-coast colonial fort ruins nearby, it’s a full and genuinely good day. Our Portobelo and San Lorenzo fortifications page covers the ruins; a private driver or organized tour handles both stops in one day better than independent transport.
Day 7: Last morning, then out
Keep it simple. A last walk along the Cinta Costera for skyline views, a final pass through Mercado de Mariscos or Casco Viejo if you need souvenirs, then Tocumen with time to spare, since security lines there are unpredictable and this isn’t the day to test that.
One honest note on San Blas, since it comes up on every longer Panama City trip: it isn’t in this itinerary, and that’s deliberate. It’s a two to two and a half hour drive plus a boat with a predawn start, and doing it as a rushed add-on defeats the point of the islands. If you want it, give it its own two or three days rather than folding it into a seventh day here; our things worth doing in Panama City guide has more on why that trade-off is worth making honestly rather than pretending you can do both.